Among them were gay male stars including Matt Lucas, Hollyoaks actor PJ Brennan, Dr Christian Jessen and Neil Patrick Harris, with the How I Met Your Mother star tweeting: "I'm relieved to know that all of my panting over @TomDaley1994 at the Summer Olympics wasn't completely misguided."

Daley's fellow Team GB diver Chris Mears also paid tribute to him on Facebook by posting a photo of the two of them at a younger age.

"Just a quick post of support for one of my best friends, Tom Daley," he wrote. "A small step in the grand scheme of things, a big step for him, and hopefully a MASSIVE step towards stamping out the stigmas of sexuality in sport! I'm really proud to call you my mate."